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Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) is an intensive, structured teaching program. Lessons to be taught are broken down to their simplest elements. Children are presented with a stimulus through repeated trials. Positive reinforcement is used to reward correct responses and behaviours, and incorrect responses are ignored.

In special education centres in schools, many professionals use ABA techniques to increase positive behaviour and to decrease negative behaviour in students.

"Applied" means practice, rather than research or philosophy. "Behaviour analysis" may be read as "learning theory," that is, understanding what leads to (or doesn't lead to) new skills. This is a simplification: ABA is just as much about maintaining and using skills as about learning. It may seem odd to use the word "behaviour" when talking about learning to talk, play, and live as a complex social animal, but to a behaviourist all these can be taught, so long as there are intact brain functions to learn and practice the skills.

Behaviour analysis dates back at least to Skinner, who performed animal experiments showing that food rewards (immediate positive consequences to a target behaviour) lead to behaviour changes. This is accepted by everyone who wants to train their dog to 'go' outside, but we are not so inclined to want to believe the same of ourselves. Part of the problem is that people do respond to a broad range of reinforcements (rewards), but it is really true that an edible treat is among the most reliable, especially at first. The skills that we more often think lead to learning (motivation, self-discipline, curiosity) are marvellous, and really do set us apart from other animals--but those are truly sophisticated 'behaviours' that fully develop only after more basic language and social skills are in place.)

Conversely, any new behaviour that an animal (or you or I) may try, but is never rewarded, is likely to die out after a while (how often will you dial that busy number?). And, as common sense would have it, a behaviour that results in something unpleasant (an aversive) is even less likely to be repeated. These are the basics of behavioural learning theory. ABA uses these principles to set up an environment in which our kids learn as much as they can as quickly as possible. It is a science, not a 'philosophy.' (Even the "as quickly as possible" part is based on science, since there is some--not conclusive--evidence that the developmentally disordered brain "learns how to learn" best if the basic skills are taught in early childhood.)

All children are unique and they develop at different pace. Some children will develop and acquire certain skills earlier than others. In general, girls also develop faster than boys at an early age. It is very important to keep in mind that the age a child acquires a skill such as knowing when to go toilet does not reflect a child's intelligence or future maturity. To be considered ready and to ensure a pleasant experience while toilet training toddlers, children will need to be both physical and emotional prepared.
Experienced parents who have successfully toilet trained their children found that parents who start toilet training toddlers at a very young age have faster and easier success rate then those parents that wait until the child is much older. However, many "experts" feel that children less than two years of age should not be toilet trained. They fear that the children are not ready and parents who try to toilet train them will result in adverse consequences. The child can become defiant or rebellious and may result in long-term parent-child relationship problems in addition to future toilet training problems.
Contrary to what the child development "experts" say, there are some who feel that some children are ready to be trained at a very young age. In reality, parents will know best how ready a child is to begin toilet training. Children who are younger are more impressionable; they are not set in their minds and ways.

The closer to the age of three that a child gets, the more set in their ways they get. They develop diaper-dependence and become set in how they like to do things. The older the child gets the harder and longer it takes for parents to get their child toilet trained. Children around 3-4 years old tend to be manipulative as well. They know how to control the situation and they use it to their full advantage. Humans tend to get into ruts. They become very comfortable with the way things are and thus getting them to change tends to be harder.

Unless your child is showing an interest in toilet training, wait until age two to three before you begin. Give it a try from two on and when you have no success, try again two months later.

Sigmund Freud thought that toilet training had far reaching consequences into adulthood. It does not. However, toilet training can be a relatively easy process that takes a day or two or it can last for months. A child that is toilet trained is better received by caregivers, daycare, and preschool programs.

You should have plenty of thick cotton underwear, some bite size reward on hand, and a toilet seat that sits on the floor. If you use the toilet for training, donut inserts seem to work well for many children. However, some kids are afraid of the height and some kids actually worry about being flushed away if they fall in. All of these items should be readily available in the bathroom. If you did not go to the store to buy the items I listed earlier, do it now!

Do not switch back and forth between underwear and diapers or pull-ups if you have to go some place. This greatly confuses the child and toilet training will take much longer.

Make a choice and stick with one method.

Throughout the toilet training procedure count the number of accidents each day and the number of times your child uses the bathroom successfully each day.

Document your data so you will know how you are progressing.

Start this step when you have a day or two to devote full time to toilet training and keep the child at home. Treat toilet training like a game and do not get upset or punish your child when accidents occur. In the morning, after breakfast, take your child into the bathroom along with a favourite beverage and a supply of whatever reward you are going to use. (A Tupperware bowl full of bite size goodies is what I would use as tangible reinforcers for most kids. The child only gets to pick one bite size piece.)

Take off the child's diaper and say, "It's time to wear big boy/big girl underwear now." Let the child wear the underwear for several minutes. Then pull your child's underwear down, sit the child on the toilet seat or toilet, and give the child a favourite beverage to drink. Do whatever you have to do to keep your child sitting there, drinking the beverage. As soon as the child uses the toilet successfully, praise the child and give the reward. Call in others and have them praise the child for using the toilet. Be lavish in your praise. Keep the child sitting there as long as you can and give praise and a reward every time the child uses the toilet. Continue this as long as you can. Do not force the child to sit there because we do not want to create an aversion to the toilet. We want the child to go several times in the toilet and see the positive results.

When your child will no longer sit there, take away the beverage, and pull up the child's underwear. This ends phase one and we are ready for phase two.

Tell the child to use the toilet whenever necessary and make sure the child has easy access. If the child indicates he or she wants to use the toilet, help him/her get there as quickly as you can. Every time your child uses the toilet give praise and a reward. Do not give rewards at any other time.

Check your child every few minutes when he or she is off the toilet and ask if he or she needs to go to the toilet. If your child is dry, give praise and give a reward. If your child has an accident, which will happen, do not get upset; do not scold or punish the child. Just say, "You had an accident," change the child's clothes (the fewer clothes, the better), and continue. Many children do not know the difference between wet and dry with modern diapers, so take the child's hand and have him/her feel when they are wet or dry. Gradually increase the intervals you check or ask the child if he or she is dry if toileting successes are occurring regularly. Only give liquids occasionally and in very small amounts during this phase of training.

Continue to count the number of accidents each day and also count the number of times your child uses the toilet successfully. (At the end of one week if successes do not outnumber accidents, your child is probably not ready. Put the child back in diapers and wait two month before you try again.)

We also want to establish night time training at the same time as daytime training. Use a rubber sheet to protect the mattress.

- No liquids two hours before bedtime.
- Do not use diapers or pull-ups at night and be sure your child can get up and use the bathroom if need be.

The next morning, reward the child if he/she has not had an accident during the night.

You should notice improvement the first day. If the child seems not to care for the same reward after awhile, try some other favourite foods. By the end of the week, I would expect your child to be trained or nearly trained. Do not worry. We are not going to continue to give rewards for using the toilet for the rest of the child's life.

Continue to deliver social reinforcement as often as you can in the form of praise, hugs, pats on the back, etc. following appropriate toileting behaviour. Tangible reinforcers, such as candy or other treats, may be faded out once your child is toilet trained. Only give the tangible reinforcer every other time, then every third time, etc. until it is no longer required to maintain appropriate behaviour. Of course, social reinforcement should be given as often as possible (hugs, positive remarks etc).

Most parents encounter a few toilet training problems during toilet training. It would be nice if it was an easier process - but with a little bit of knowledge you can get past most toilet training problems with just a little effort.

Your toddler is afraid of being sucked into the flushing toilet:

This is a pretty common fear. Shoot, I still have this one sometimes. Most of this fear stems from the child feeling like they have a lack of control. The loud sound of the flushing and things disappearing don't help either.

One thing you might want to consider is starting your child on a toilet seat instead of the toilet. Or, if this is happening later in toilet training as you're transitioning to the toilet - another thing you can do is let the child flush small bits of toilet paper. This will let the child feel like they are in control, as well as get used to hearing the water and seeing things disappear.

Your toddler is still having accidents:
It's Ok. Accidents happen and they're going to happen and they're going to continue for a while - do you remember having accidents? I had one in first grade. So you can see, even older children are going to have accidents.

So what do you do? Treat them lightly. Don't punish the child or make them feel guilty. These things just might make it more difficult to get through toilet training - but if you continue to encourage them, they'll recover and want to not have any accidents.

Your child will only go toilet with Daddy:
If that's the case - enjoy it Mom's! Just kidding. Sometimes the child will only go with one parent. That'd be nice for the other parent, but if you want to share toilet training responsibilities, this one is pretty simple.

You just need to start removing yourself from the process. When the child needs to go toilet, offer to help him undress, get him ready and walk him to the bathroom. But then wait outside the bathroom. As you do this, the child will feel less attached to the one parent during toilet training.

This publication and all the information here are provided to you for information and education purposes only. The author, creator and publisher of this guide are not medical doctors. The information contained on the site or in the Behaviour Management Program should not be construed as medical advice.
Before beginning any health related program or treatment it is vital you contact your health care provider.

No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies enclosed may not be suitable for your situation. You should always consult with a medical health professional when dealing with any medical condition or program involving your health and well-being. Information about health and diet cannot be generalized to the population at large. Keep in mind you should consult with a qualified physician when embarking on any program. Neither the Publisher nor Author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages resulting from use of this guide.

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